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For a Healthy 2015, Swap Lofty New Year’s Resolutions for Little Changes

Folsom, Calif., January 2, 2015 – Every January, Americans reflect on the past and look to the future, often setting drastic health-related New Year’s resolutions they struggle to keep; an overwhelming 92 percent of resolution-setters failing to see them through.

This year, actress, author and TV host Alison Sweeney and the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council aim to curb that trend, releasing findings from a poll fielded by ORC International*, and ringing in the New Year with a sweepstakes and motivational campaign challenging Americans to trade their lofty resolutions for more realistic lifestyle changes.

Choose Little, Win Big

ORC’s research revealed that four out of five Americans (82%) believe that making small lifestyle changes is a more effective way to improve health than making major changes that might require more self-discipline.

“Instead of setting big New Year’s resolutions, I encourage people to set small and sustainable goals,” said Sweeney. “Whether that means drinking an extra glass of water each day, signing up for a 5K, or adding blueberries to your usual oatmeal or yogurt, it’s the little changes that will add up to a healthier lifestyle over time.”

Among the changes poll respondents indicated as being easy to keep are spending more time with family (79 percent) and eating more healthy foods like blueberries (72 percent).

Ditch Deprivation, Ditch Frustration

While New Year’s resolutions have the tendency to make both men and women act irrationally or adopt a defeatist attitude, the poll found little changes make people feel more confident (61 percent), more likely to make additional positive changes (60 percent) and happier (58 percent).

Diets, on the other hand, tend to create unnecessary drama:

A third of women (32 percent) and almost a quarter of men (20 percent) have given up on a diet completely after slipping up

One in seven (14 percent) have snapped at someone because their diet was making them crazy

Additionally, respondents found it easier to add healthy foods like blueberries (50 percent) and broccoli (51 percent) to their diets than to eliminate things like gluten (16 percent) or dessert (33 percent), suggesting deprivation is not the best method for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

This report presents the findings of a survey conducted by ORC International among a sample of 1,028 adults comprising 516 men and 512 women 18 years of age and older. The online omnibus study is conducted twice a week among a demographically representative U.S. sample of 1,000 adults 18 years of age and older. This survey was live on November 6-9, 2014. Completed interviews are weighted by five variables: age, sex, geographic region, race and education to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population, 18 years of age and older. The raw data are weighted by a custom designed program which automatically develops a weighting factor for each respondent. Each respondent is assigned a single weight derived from the relationship between the actual proportion of the population based on US Census data with its specific combination of age, sex, geographic characteristics, race and education and the proportion in the sample. Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have volunteered to participate in online surveys and polls. The data have been weighted to reflect the demographic composition of the 18+ population.

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About the U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council

The U.S. Highbush Blueberry Council is an agriculture promotion group, representing blueberry growers and packers in North and South America who market their blueberries in the United States, and works to promote the growth and well-being of the entire blueberry industry. The blueberry industry is committed to providing blueberries that are grown, harvested, packed and shipped in clean, safe environments. Learn more about blueberries at www.littlebluedynamos.com or www.facebook.com/littlebluedynamos.

The USHBC has adopted a diversity outreach plan to attempt to achieve a diverse representation on the Council. USHBC programs are open to all individuals without regard to race, color, national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, genetic information, parental status and marital or family status. It is USHBC policy that membership on the Council and its committees reflect the diversity of individuals served by its programs.

To accomplish this objective, the USHBC will strive to attain representation of growers and other industry participants from diverse backgrounds on the Council and USHBC committees. To this end, the USHBC strongly encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to seek nominations to the USHBC and to participate in Council and USHBC committee activities.